NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament Central

FDU-Florham 106, Wells 45 - FINAL (Box Score)

Wells (19-9) at No. 5 Fairleigh Dickinson University at Florham (28-0)
NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament - First Round
Friday, March 7, 2014 - 7:00 p.m.
Ferguson Recreation Center, Madison, N.J. (Directions)

GAME NOTES

Wells Links: Roster | Schedule and Results | Statistics | News
FDU-Florham Links: Roster | Schedule and Results | Statistics | News

Wells Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
FDU-Florham Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

INTERACTIVE NCAA DIVISION III BRACKET | NCAA DIII WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SELECTION SHOW (Archive)

EXPRESS IN THE NEWS: Wells women's basketball team overcomes big deficit, captures first NEAC championship (Auburn Citizen)...Wells pushes past Lancaster Bible College in women's title game (Lancaster Online)...NEAC CHAMPIONS! Women’s Basketball Upsets Lancaster Bible, 67-60 (Wells College Athletics)...2014 NEAC Women's Basketball Championship Photo Gallery (Wells College Athletics on Facebook)...Wells College Express Capture First NEAC Women’s Basketball Title with 67-60 Victory over Lancaster Bible College (NEAC Sports)...Wells Women's Basketball heads to NCAA tourney  (Kristin Wolford, Auburn Citizen)

QUOTABLES

After practice on Thursday afternoon:

"We did our best with the time we had. We maximized our time and we were definitely a bit nervous, but by the end, we were up and down the court. It is a great court and we're looking forward to playing on it [Friday]." - Senior forward Brittany White (Lewiston, N.Y.)

"We went into Lancaster Bible knowing that they were undefeated in NEAC play. Being undefeated didn't phase us, their crowd didn't phase us. We're mentally prepared for [Friday's] game - their record doesn't matter, their ranking doesn't matter - nothing matters." - Senior forward Brittany White (Lewiston, N.Y.) 

"We just have to play our game, play our hearts out - we did that at Lancaster Bible and we'll do that here. We're going to try and make history - we're writing it already so we'll see what we can do." - Senior forward Brittany White (Lewiston, N.Y.)

"The effort was there. We were all really exited to be there. We're going to take every minute we can on the court because it may be our last. We're confident and ready for the game. We ran the court, we all put in maximum effort this afternoon." - Sophomore guard Holli Erkson (Cooperstown, N.Y.)

"Coach O'Brien wants us to be confident. We can't let the other team get into our head because of their record." - Sophomore guard Holli Erkson (Cooperstown, N.Y.)

"We all respect each other, on and off the court. Off the court respect makes us that much better - communication is key and we all know that we can do that. That is one of the keys to our success." - Sophomore guard Holli Erkson (Cooperstown, N.Y.)

Following the game day shootaround on Friday:

"It's really exciting that we've came this far. It's important for us to keep a good mental state. I am a little bit nervous, it's a big game - we can definitely handle it. We were okay in the Lancaster Bible game and certainly the Keuka game so we are confident entering this evening." - Junior guard Jessilyn Artaho-Aki (Kapa'a, Hawaii)

"It's pretty awesome to be here [at the NCAA Tournament] - we thought we could be here but you never know. It was one of our preseason goals and we accomplished that. I bet it won't sink in until we get [onto the court] and start the pregame shootaround." - Junior guard Cassie Smythe (Eden, N.Y.)

"We are thankful for the showing of support by the Wells comunnity. It keeps us motivated and it means a lot to us for them to arrive [in Madison, N.J.] during their spring break to cheer for us - they could be going home to their friends and families so it definitely means a lot ot us." - Junior guard Cassie Smythe (Eden, N.Y.)

AURORA, N.Y. – Fresh off of their program’s first-ever North Eastern Athletic Conference championship, the Wells College women’s basketball team will face-off against the No. 5 ranked Devils of Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham to open the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament on Friday, Mar. 7 at 7:00 p.m. The Express, who enter the tournament with a 19-8 overall record, will square off with the host Devils (25-0) on their campus, located in Madison, N.J.

Wells claimed their first-ever North Eastern Athletic Conference championship title on Sunday, defeating the Chargers of Lancaster Bible College by a score of 67-60 and will make the school’s second NCAA tournament appearance on Friday. With the victory, Wells snapped the Chargers’ 26 game winning streak against NEAC opponents and will make the school’s second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance on Friday (men’s basketball, 2010-11).

Entering the NEAC Championship on Sunday, Lancaster Bible (21-6) had not lost a league game (15-0) during the regular season and were undefeated in their last 26 NEAC contests. The Devils enter Friday’s tilt as winners of 25-straight games dating back to a 56-52 first round loss in last year’s NCAA tournament.

Both squads boast their respective conference Players of the Year. The Express are led by senior captain Ashley Roser (Taberg, N.Y.) who picked up NEAC Player of the Year recognition for the second-straight season and also drew NEAC Women's Basketball Tournament Most Valuable Player honors. The active NCAA Division III leader in career point scoring (2,079), rebounding (1,411) and double-doubles (82), Roser stands only a single double-double shy of tying the all-time NCAA Division III record set by Kathryn Stockbower of Swarthmore College.

The program record holder in virtually every offensive and defensive category, Roser has made appearances in 27 games for the Express this season and has posted an East Region leading 22.5 points per game while shooting 47.7% from the floor in 2013-14 to rank ninth in the region. Additionally, she has posted 348 rebounds (12.9 per game) alongside a team-leading 64 steals.

On a national scale, the Wells team ranks second in the nation in three point field goal defense, limiting opponents to a 22.3% clip from beyond the arc. As a team, Wells also ranks 11th amongst NCAA Division III programs with 5.7 blocks per game. Roser ranks within the top-10 in the nation in double-doubles (21), points per game (22.5) and rebounds per game (12.9). Junior Kaitlynne Knapp (Port Byron, N.Y.) ranks just outside of the top-10 in the nation in blocks per game with an average of 3.26.

For the Devils, junior forward Kyra Dayon is also a two-time Player of the Year winner out of the Freedom Conference. Earlier in the 2013-14 season, Dayon became the 14th player in team history to tally 1,000 career points – she is currently averaging 14.2 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game and 3.3 assists per game. Kyra’s twin sister, Kara, both are starters for the Devils.

As a team, FDU-Florham is one of only three NCAA Division III teams in the nation without a loss in the 2013-14 season. Additionally, they rank fifth in the nation in scoring margin (24.7), sixth in turnover margin (9.59) and 11th in scoring offense (80.6 ppg). Additionally, they outrebound their opponents by nearly 10 rebounds, ranking 13th amongst qualifying programs.

The Devils are piloted by Head Coach Mark Mitchell, who recently became the all-time winningest coach in team history. Across a five year tenure at FDU-Florham, Mitchell has racked up a record of 84-47 and made their first NCAA tournament appearance last season at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. against Widener.

Wells is led by fourth year Head Coach Mike O’Brien who revived the women’s basketball program at Wells in 2010 after a hiatus of 30 years. Since 2010-11, their first modern day season of play, O’Brien has steadily improved the team’s fortunes after a four win season in 2010-11. After posting eight wins in 2011-12, O’Brien secured the team’s first postseason appearance in 2012-13, defeating the Wildcats from the SUNY Institute of Technology on Feb. 19, 2013 by an 82-80 margin.